Chapters

* Title * Contents * Introduction * Place * System * Design * Using * Future * Bibliography

Sections

* Design * Two_Simple * Sell * MULE * MULEvsMarketPlace * Incentives * Trade_Dependence * Symmetric_Commodities * Illustrating_Externalities * Showing_The_Model



An Interface that Shows the Model

The most complex part of the MarketPlace model is the production output calculation. The combination of bonuses from economy of scale and adjacency factors can be difficult for players to understand. MarketPlace addresses this difficulty by allowing users to see how and why their current configuration performs and allowing them to try many different configurations before committing to one of them. The interface elements that enable this process of trying out the model are the production report window, and the multiple undoable action buttons on the Map window. The user can try out various alternative arrangements for his factories, and understand why each of them performs as it does. After a few of these, most users have a pretty clear idea of how the production model works.







Greg Kimberly/gregkimb@gak.com